


The Other Woman

by aconfederacyofscript



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-16
Updated: 2015-03-16
Packaged: 2018-03-18 05:49:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3558464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aconfederacyofscript/pseuds/aconfederacyofscript
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An AU in which Skye has a boyfriend, who turns out to be cheating on her with another girl: Jemma Simmons, who is completely innocent and has no idea of Skye's existence. To wreck some havoc and get her revenge, Skye seeks out the other woman, tumbling in love with her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Other Woman

Skye never uses her skills to her advantage in relationships. She trusts the people she’s with. She doesn’t feel the need to hack into phones, run credit card details and retrieve deleted e-mails from a server. She doesn’t, but this time, when Alex hastily kisses her and mumbles something about an emergency at work, she feels weird. She trusts Alex, she does. He never made her feel weird before. He always shows that he genuinely cares, that he loves her, and that he’s in it to make it work.

However, something has been feeling off for the last few months. He stays over less, he misses dinner dates and makes up excuses why he couldn’t be with her as much. She tried talking to him about it, but it never resulted in solid answers.

So no, Skye doesn’t use her skills to go through his stuff. Ground rule number one, trust your partner. But she didn’t know if she did right now, so she clones his phone on his way out and logs in on her computer, digging up the mess he had made.

She swallows hard. Text messages to some girls, but nothing harmful. Drinks after work with colleagues were fine. He sent the same texts to his male co-workers. Regular work mails, scheduled meetings that she would also find in his work agenda. Meetings with his boss a lot. Nothing out of the ordinary; even Skye was in there sometimes. She starts to doubt whether she is doing the right thing, whether there is actually anything to find in here. Maybe she’s just overreacting and he was actually really busy with work. There are a couple strange lunch meetings in the late afternoon with someone called “JS”, whoever that may be.

Suddenly he sends a text to a number that isn’t added to his contacts. 

Alex W. - I’m on my way, baby. Sorry it’s taking so long; traffic is shit, and so is work. Glad to be with you tonight. Be there in ten. 

The room spins slightly. He just told her he had to go in for work. And who is this person he’s texting. But most importantly, why is he calling her baby and lying about it. 

She feels sick, knowing really well what exactly it is that might be going on, but proceeds to run the number anyway, collecting bits and pieces of the other life he’s clearly living. She doesn’t want to continue her search, but her hands itch like they always do when she’s starting a new project, and this is starting to feel a lot like that. So she ignores the tears on her cheeks and the blur in the corners of her eyes, she ignores the pounding of her heart and the light tremble of her hands. She ignores emotion and gets to work.

The name pops up. Jemma Simmons. She’s about Skye’s age, very attractive, two PhDs, and she’s British. Of course. Naturally, her boyfriend would cheat on her with a gorgeous British scientist. She’d do the same, if she was a cheater.

She stops just as she’s about to pull up her living address. She doesn’t want to know where exactly he is right now, so she just prints the info she has, including her work address, puts it in one of her binders and locks up for the night.

He doesn’t come home that night, which isn’t something he has ever done before. But she decides not to press the matter. Jemma swims in her mind at work, but she also realises that she’s been expecting something like to come up for months, which is probably why she feels so neutral about it. She’s not mad or sad, she’s mostly disappointed, but it’s like she has already moved on to keep herself safe.

When he texts her that he won’t be meeting her for dinner at her place, she doesn’t reply. He will probably have forgotten about this text well before dinner rolls around, not even bothering to check up with her.

So she just prints another stack of information, but this time of Alex himself. She prints his schedules, his Facebook profile that is clearly different from the one he’s friends with Jemma’s on. She prints pictures of herself with him, in bed, on holidays. Two years with him, wasted.

“Do you want coffee? You look like you got hit by a train,” someone at the door speaks up while knocking and Skye turns her head. It’s Trip, from the research department.

“You’d be a hero,” she smiles, “Alex is cheating on me with a British scientist.”

“No way.

“Yes way.”

“Shit…” He walks in and flops down across from her, rubbing his face. “Didn’t he also go on a ‘work trip’ to England a few weeks back?”

“Yeah, I know… He was probably with her then to meet her family or something ridiculously shady. I don’t even know. I’m making files. I’m planning to confront her.”

“She probably doesn’t know about you either, Skye, just keep that in mind.”

She shrugs, hitting print on another file before meeting his gaze again. “How about that coffee?”

The building where Jemma Simmons works is not hard to find at all. She has hacked into the system to make herself an appointment with this incredibly busy woman. How she found the time to have a relationship at all boggled her. But maybe it was why she was easy to have an affair with; just the early hours, not the commitment of the laundry. She has no idea how they even met, they seemed like two completely different people.

Alex works at a big law firm down town and Dr. Simmons is head of the Science Division at S.H.I.E.L.D, which turned out to be a branch of the military or something. Law enforcement. Espionage. Skye decided not to hack into their system any further or she’d probably be picked up by one of those ‘agents’. She rolls her eyes.

Her appointment is in ten minutes, so she parks her car in the garage, gathers her files in a neat stack and adjusts the clothes she’s wearing. She never dressed up like this in a modest dress and matching heels, her hair up in a ponytail, but for some reason she feels like she should make an impression on this woman.

“How can I help you?” the lady at the reception asks once Skye has made her way inside and she smiles politely, suddenly getting slightly nervous.

“Hi, my name is Skye Johnson; I have an appointment with Ms. Simmons?”

The assistant clicks some buttons in her system and frowns lightly, as if she only now realised the change in the schedule. It was the first thing Skye did in the morning, but she knew her appointments ahead as well; she understands the confusion.

“Yes, absolutely, Ms. Johnson. Take a seat; she will be right with you.”

“Thank you.”

Skye can hear two voices bickering lightly and she recognises the assistant’s, realising that the British one must be Jemma’s. She only gets a trail of what probably would be the sentence “I have no idea who she is or how she got onto the schedule”.

“Ms. Johnson?”

The accent sends a pleasant shiver down her spine.

“Hi. Nice to meet you.” Skye smiles widely and extends her hand, which Jemma shakes.

“Jemma Simmons. Please, follow me. It looks like there was a strange change in my schedule, but it also seems you have an appointment. Help me out here, Ms. Johnson, have we met before?”

“Please, call me Skye. And no, we haven’t. There’s something I’d like to discuss with you,” Skye answers, and waves the files, “is there somewhere we can talk in private?”

Jemma nods curtly and leads the way into a tidy and spacious office. “Have a seat. Would you like coffee?”

“Please.” Skye sits down on one the couch in a lounge area. The office almost was a mini apartment; the only thing missing was a shower and a bed. She must spend a lot of time here, Skye thinks.

“So, Skye… what is it that brings you here?”

“I wanted to talk to you about Alex Whittaker?”

Jemma quirks an eyebrow at her, but nods. “What about him?”

“So you know him?”

“What is this about? I’m not legally required to tell you anything, Skye.”

“Oh, but it’s not about anything legal. I’m not a cop, and I don’t work for your enemy… I had this all planned out and I don’t even know where to begin now…” Skye says with a shaky laugh and takes a deep breath. She puts the three folders next to each other and flips the cover open. “Alex has been my boyfriend for a little over two years now… and I think he’s…”

“… having an affair… with me? Oh my god…”

Jemma doesn’t say much, just looking through the prints in front of her, shaking her head at the photo’s, occasionally scrunching her nose or bringing her hands to her lips.

“I’m so sorry, Skye. I had no idea. I met him during a conference three months ago and we… hit it off right away. He said he wasn’t seeing anybody just then and that he wasn’t looking for anything solid. So it’s nothing serious; I mean, I’m not in love with Alex, Skye. I would have never gone through with it, had I known that he was involved with you. I’m so terribly sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, is it? I mean, you didn’t know. You shouldn’t apologise. I came here with the idea to confront you, but it turns out that you’ve been screwed over just as hard as me.” Skye runs a nervous hand through her hair, “maybe I shouldn’t even have come here at all.”

“No, no. I’m glad you came. I’m glad that this has risen to the surface. Or I would have maybe started a relationship with him and then maybe I would find out the other way around. Then I’d feel like more of a dirty mistress than I am now.”

Skye reaches out over the table and rests her hand on Jemma’s forearm, looking at her intently. “Hey, it’s not your fault. He is the asshole in this equation. We didn’t know.”

“I’ve been seeing him for months, Skye. It’s just wrong. Everything about it is wrong. I feel so bad for you; you spent years of your life with him.”

Skye shrugs with one shoulder and sighs heavily. “I know.”

“That’s a long time.”

“I know.”

They sit in silence for a few minutes, just drinking the beverages, until they are disturbed by a soft knock at the door.

“Yes?”

“Dr. Simmons? Your next appointment cancelled, I have rescheduled with him. Also, there’s someone on the phone.”

“Who is it?”

“A man named Alex Whittaker?”

“Alright, I’ll take it in here. Would you clear my schedule for this afternoon, please? Something has come up.”

“Absolutely.”

“Thanks, Nina.”

The door closes again and Jemma sighs heavily, the red light on the phone signalling that there is a redirected call from the back office.

“Are you taking it? I can go away, if you want. I mean, I did my say; I shouldn’t be keeping you for longer than I already am.”

“No, please, stay. You probably booked this appointment ages ago. I had better get this settled. I don’t really want to be going out with someone who is such a disgrace.”

Skye snorts and waves her hand before sitting down again. “By all means take it then.”

The phone call is short. Jemma simply tells her that Skye is sitting in her office right this second and that they are very well aware of what it is that’s going on, and what it is that he’s doing. So that therefore he is an asshole and she doesn’t want to see or speak to him again. End of story. End of relationship. Skye dreads knowing that she will have to officially break up with him, too. She might as well already update her Facebook status.

Jemma’s hands tremble lightly when she puts the phone down and sits down next to Skye.

“How did he take it?” Skye asks with a quirked eyebrow and Jemma shrugs.

“He tried to apologise, multiple times. That it wasn’t what it looks like. That he wants to be with me, and that he’ll figure this out. Can you actually believe it? I am sitting here with you and he’s still trying to make up excuses,” Jemma huffs, “had I known this I would have stayed with my ex-girlfriend.”

Skye nearly chokes on her coffee and coughs. “Sorry?”

“I… I had a girlfriend?” Jemma quirks an eyebrow at her.

“I’m sorry, I just… I didn’t see that one coming. I shouldn’t act so surprised since I’ve been down that road multiple times in the past. It’s much easier in ways, though, being with a woman. Men are just so obnoxious sometimes.”

“Right. And they can’t cook.” Jemma laughs and Skye thinks it’s easily the most beautiful sound she’s heard in a while.

“Right.” Skye nods with a mischievous smirk and takes another sip of her coffee. “So what are you going to do now that you have the afternoon off, Doctor Simmons?”

“I’m undecided. I am torn between finishing up paper work I have laying around, or enjoying my spare time until someone or something decides to cut that short.”

“Would you like to get out of here? I mean… grab lunch, or something? Plotting revenge has made me hungry,” Skye says, laughing, and Jemma nudges her shoulder.

“You’re not trying to seduce me, are you?” Jemma laughs again.

“Maybe I am, though. You’re intelligent and beautiful, why wouldn’t I try?” Skye winks and gets up with a grin on her face. “I know a place nearby. We can plot the rest of our revenge there.”

“Sure, I’d like that. By the way, how long have you been planning on coming by exactly?” Jemma asks while picking up her coat and leading her out of the office.

“Since yesterday.”

“Then how did you manage to get an appointment?”

“I have my ways,” Skye says with a toothy grin and dodges Jemma’s shove. 

“Ow! Hey!”

“Tell me!”

“Okay! Fine, I hacked into your system and put myself in your calendar for today.”

“You did?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I just…”

“No, it’s fine. That’s really impressive. Was it hard to get in?” Jemma asks with a surprised look on her face and Skye shakes her head.

“Not at all.”

“Hey!”

“I’m sorry! Your security system just really sucks. I could get into everything this company has to offer, probably.”

“They should give you a job at IT. I’ll recommend you.”

Skye just rolls her eyes and grins, holding the door for Jemma when they step outside. “Maybe. Or they will arrest me for hacking before that happens.”

“Shut up. They won’t. They are too busy tracking down superheroes,” Jemma says casually, but Skye stops dead in her tracks nonetheless.

“Excuse you?”

“I’m just kidding, Skye. Shall we go?” Jemma laughs and Skye catches up with her quickly.

They walk in a comfortable silence, Skye softly humming a song, steering Jemma around the corner with a hand on her lower back and into a small café. 

“We’re here.”

“This is it?”

“Is it not good enough, Doctor I Run a Science Division?” Skye mocks and waves at the bartender, who winks at her. She is a regular; little did she know she was in such close proximity of Jemma all that time.

“It’s perfect, Skye,” Jemma laughs and scrunches her nose. She sits down across from Skye and sheds her coat.

The place is perfect, really. It’s cosy and comfortable, there are just enough people to get the vibe going, but it’s not too crowded. There’s soft jazzy music playing in the background and it smells like food.

“You can eat that, if you want,” Skye says when Jemma turns the little flower pot that’s standing on their table. “It’s fresh herbs.”

“It’s really nice,” Jemma remarks, picking off a leaf of basil. “How come I have never heard of this place?”

“Because you’ve been hanging out with the wrong people,” Skye says with a wink and hands her a menu, “I’m just kidding. It took me forever before I randomly bumped into this place when I had a massive hangover and lost the keys to my apartment. So I decided to grab a bite to eat, I never really left.”

“What would you recommend?” Jemma asks, running her finger along the different sandwiches and salads.

“The steak, but that’s maybe something for dinner. I’d go for the roast beef sandwich with a side of fries.”

“A side of fries?”

“They are really good!”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Jemma says with a light shake of her head and opts for a filled salad, ordering a fresh mint tea with it when Skye’s friend comes to take their order.

“I’m gonna get that sandwich though,” Skye says, “with the side of fries.”

“Coming right up, ladies,” Phil says and rests his hand on Skye’s shoulder.

Skye picks a leaf of mint from the plants in front of them and puts it on her tongue.

“I still don’t believe that you are going to eat all of that,” Jemma says when Phil comes back with their order and places it down in front of them. He laughs knowingly, but Skye just shrugs.

“A girl’s gotta eat!”

“That’s true.”

“Plus, no way I’m going to share my fries with you now that you’ve been so condescending about them.”

“I wasn’t.”

“Do too.”

“What ever, Skye,” Jemma grins while putting a piece of grilled chicken in her mouth.

“Okay, you can have one. But only if you will have dinner here with me sometime and that you’ll order the steak.”

Jemma laughs. “Sure, why not.”

“Because I would probably steal your fries, but that’s another discussion. I just really want you to try the steak,” Skye beams, so Jemma nods.

“Okay. But I’m ordering you something then.”

“Deal.”

They clink their drinks.

“Deal.”


End file.
